4. Learning Environment

Artifact 1: Educational Psychology Field Report

This document is a field experience report that was written up for my Educational Psychology course at Georgia State University in the spring semester of 2016. The field experience was carried out during 11 hours of teaching over the course of three days at The Music Studio at Vinings where I taught percussion, drums, trumpet, piano, guitar, and ukulele to students aged 5-adult. This report includes observations and the ways in which they relate to educational psychological theory/practices such as Piaget’s Stages, Social Cognitive Theory, reinforcement, and fostering creativity.

By understanding principles of and strategies for effective classroom and behavior management, I was able to deliver effective and efficient instruction on varying instrument groups to students of varying ages (IPTS 4A). In organizing my teaching studio in such a way that was conducive for successful deliverance of lesson plans, I demonstrated knowledge of how to assess the instructional environment to determine how best to meet a student’s individual needs (IPTS 4E). In addition, I was able to create a safe and healthy environment that maximizes student learning (IPTS 4I). To adequately prepare for this field experience and report, I needed to organize, allocate, and manage my time, materials, technology, and physical space to provide active and equitable engagement of students in productive learning activities (IPTS 4M).

As someone who was, at the time, simultaneously teaching and attending school to be a licensed teacher, my instructor deemed it acceptable to carry out my field experience at my workplace. In the development of this project, I was able to relate much of my typical daily interaction and instruction time with students directly to the aforementioned educational psychological theories and practices. This allowed me to make a more meaningful, authentic connection to the material that I was learning to become a better teacher. In making these connections, I was then able to more effectively structure my teaching environment to better suit the individual needs of my students.

Artifact 2: Middle School vs. Junior High Philosophy Analysis of Practicum Placement, Fall 2017

This artifact is a paper written for my Middle Grades Literacy course during the fall semester of 2017. One of the purposes of the assignment was to explore the philosophical differences that exist between the middle school and junior high approach to 6^th-8^th grade education. The primary goal, however, was to analyze the school culture that existed within our part-time student teaching placements. In this paper, you will find a breakdown of my placement school’s academic, social-emotional, and structural aspects that contribute to its over-arching “middle school” philosophy.

By seeking to understand my part-time student teaching placement’s foundational philosophy of education, I discovered how factors (e.g., self-efficacy, positive social interaction) influence motivation and engagement (IPTS 4D). The production of this document better equipped me to know how to assess the instructional environment to determine how best to meet a student’s individual needs (IPTS 4E). In collaboration with my cooperating teachers, we analyzed the classroom environment and made decisions to enhance cultural and linguistic responsiveness, mutual respect, positive social relationships, student motivation, and classroom engagement (IPTS 4L).

In studying the differences between middle school and junior high philosophy, I was able to gain a better grasp on the underlying factors that go into deciding the ways in which the academic, social emotional, and schedule-related aspects of a school community are structured. It is in this study where I was able to better acquaint myself with the ways in which school culture can affect the overall learning environment within which students spend so many of their formative years.